A so very belated follow-up about the Slice of Life contest. The days have been packed lately. A week of preschool photos, visits to both of the CoCo coworking spaces for headshots, more preschool photos and now I’m prepping the f(un)booth photo booth for a school carnival tomorrow. (Photos above of me trying to work my kiddo magic taken by my faithful assistant.)

The Slice of Life contest entries were so much fun for me to read. Those little moments, the common things, bits and pieces that pass by so quickly, often unnoticed but so treasured when they’re captured – those are the things I want to photograph for you. And reading about what those are for you and how they vary from family to family is so exciting and inspiring for me. I’m glad that the winner was picked blindly because really, how could I choose?

The winner of the contest was Beth B. and her family. I’m so looking forward to spending a few hours with them to capture their own little slice of life. But I want to do this with all of you! Hopefully, the contest got you started thinking about the idea and about what you’d like to have captured. But in case the idea of a gorgeous 9×9 flush mount album full of your precious moments isn’t enough to entice you, I have an extra special deal.

Book a Slice of Life Package by Sunday, May 13th (just book it, schedule for any time) and save a ridiculous $400 on a session + album. Yep, I’m that excited to do this.

Incidentally, you know what makes a great gift for a mother? For, say, Mothers Day? A photo session.

BOOK YOUR SLICE OF LIFE SESSION NOW!

The studio is in Minneapolis, in the North Loop area, just behind Target Field, and is just off the highway. It’s a great area, we’re right next to Corner Coffee and perhaps the best part for me – the parking meters take credit cards! (I am forever without cash.)

What does this mean for you? Well, I’m certainly not giving up on-location or outdoor photography at all. It means that there’s a space for newborn sessions if you don’t have room/light in your home. It means there’s an easy place to use for casual headshots. And it means that when it comes time to order, we’ll do your ordering session in person so that you can see and touch product samples and wall displays and I can help you best select what you need. All-around convenience!

An exciting new chapter for me – I’m looking forward to a busy summer!

Have you booked your session yet?

And then I want you to have a beautiful 9×9 album that contains all these photos. A book with thick, durable, water-resistant pages that can be left on the coffee table for the kiddos to endlessly thumb through. A gorgeous, flush-mount album that says “this is how we were. This is how we loved each other.” An archival quality album that can be handed down to your kids and your kids’ kids.

So, to kick off these efforts to fulfill my photo dreams and to get you started thinking about doing your own session, I’m giving away a free package. The session and the album. I have never given away anything this big – this is over a $1,000 value! I may be crazy. But I will be having fun in my craziness!

Want to sign up to win? (Of course you do!) To enter:

- leave a comment telling me what portion of your day or activity you’d love to have photographed. Winner will be picked by number only, not based on your session idea, so try to think about what slice of life would be really important to you.

Get one extra entry for each of the things below (make sure you leave a separate comment for each item you complete):

- Like Glimpses of Soul Photography on Facebook
- Tweet “Win a free lifestyle photography session & album from @glimpsesofsoul! Enter to win: http://bit.ly/Icq2uu”
- Share this entry on your own Facebook page (there’s a handy little icon link for that below).

The contest will be open until the last CST minute of April 30th. Winner will be notified on May 1st. You must live in or be willing to travel to the Twin Cities area to redeem this (or be willing to assume financial responsibility for transporting me to your location). You can give the session to a friend/family member/someone who deserves it but you can’t trade it in for cash. And absolutely no posed photos! Sound good? Let’s do this!

In my information packet, I refer to prints that are 8×10 and smaller as “desk prints” and 11×14 and bigger as “wall prints.” Sometimes people ask why and I explain, but this graphic does a much better job of it. Those smaller sizes are great for a desktop, a counter, a side table, etc. Want something that shows on the wall? Go BIG!

Isn’t this just exactly how you feel when you’re little and your mom wants to plant a big one on your cheek AND you’re stuck in between Dad kissing Mom? I just love his expression.

And this one, do I even need to explain why I love it? Family + stick-on mustaches = instant fun.

A few more from our session…

Want to do something fun and silly for your family portraits? Contact me to set up a session!

I spent yesterday at the Woodbury Community Expo. Despite the great weather outdoors, there was an excellent turnout for the event which was held inside the Bielenberg Sports Center. It got pretty warm in there so I definitely looked like a charming mess by the end of the event but it was still a good time. The more involved with the community I get, the more fun it is. Several families recognized me from Woodbury Days, I saw some familiar faces from preschool photos, I ran into business owners I knew, some I had recently met through the Woodbury Chamber of Commerce and met some that I had connected with through Twitter. A few folks recognized the people in my photos as friends or family. I love how we’re ticking down the degrees of separation – it definitely makes events like these more fun and the world seem a bit smaller.

Codie came in a couple of weeks ago to get some updated headshots for business and online use. Just simple and personable!

Most people, when they heard that I was going to photograph a birth, would nod and then say “Oh. The actual birth?” and then wrinkle their nose. I can’t blame them. A few years ago, when I first heard of birth photography, I’m pretty sure wrinkling my nose was among the negative reactions I had as well. But then I saw some great work done by other photographers and I was intrigued.

I first connected with Mary through Twitter. She’s a fantastic Twin Cities boudoir photographer. When she asked me if I was interested in photographing her birth, I was pretty excited. She was looking for someone whose work she knew, who she was comfortable with but who she didn’t know too well (understandably). We got together for an evening a few months ahead of her due date to get to know each other a bit and chat about the birth.

On a Sunday morning, I got a text from Mary letting me know that they were headed to the hospital and would check in in a bit. Time went by with no word so I headed off to #bingoclub (monthly bingo meetups with the girls!) but left shortly after to head to the hospital.

It wasn’t until I’d been there for several hours that I truly realized the trust required from Mary to have a photographer in the room. It wasn’t just trusting me to capture a precious, once-in-a-lifetime event; it was allowing me to be in the room, to witness incredibly private and emotional moments. And there were many of those during the 16 hours I spent with Mary and her husband Matt.

Despite my initial reaction years ago, birth photography is everything I love about photographing. It’s candid and unscripted, it’s powerfully emotional, it’s capturing moments that will never be repeated, it’s witnessing something from the outside, staying behind the scenes. It’s amazing. I came home at 10am on Monday morning and said to some fellow photographers “I. AM. SO. IN. LOVE.” It’s true.

I’m so grateful to Mary and Matt for giving me the opportunity to photograph the birth of their dear little daughter, June, and I am excited and anxious to provide this service for future parents!

Below are some of the images from the birth but below that is a slideshow of some of my favorite images. I’d love it if you’d give it a play! (It should be safe for work, although there is music so listen quietly.)

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So, remember this little guy with the headphones? And then remember him a few months older? Yep, he’s gotten even bigger.

We had a gorgeous fall day in the park for our session and the little music aficionado got to show me his new tricks…crawling, standing, clapping – all the good stuff. Leaves were a new and interesting experience for him, too.

Don’t forget to sign up to win a free photo f(un)booth package! The contest ends tomorrow night.